Nothing exciting to report this week. Work, Home, Chores... and Repeat.

We started doing some painting downstairs, just to freshen the walls up, and I've gone into comping overdrive so I can start putting things away for Christmas. All the kids are covered, but I need some more adult orientated presents, plus stuff to donate as raffle prizes, etc. So if you're hosting a giveaway, you can be fairly sure of seeing me there!

I suppose the only other notable thing this week was that the pushchair finally gave up the fight. To be fair, it's had constant use for 20 months and only cost £25 from Aldi. I ordered the same type of pushchair to replace it on eBay; it's new but has storage wear. I can't see Marianna objecting. (BTW, if you're looking for a new pushchair, the Which? pushchair guides cover everything you need to know!)

Marianna's answer to 'are you ready to go?'

A photo posted by Jessica Powell (@plastigffantastig) on Sep 24, 2016 at 3:43pm PDT

☆ READING: There was an article on HuffPost this week which really annoyed me; I wrote up the reasons why.

☆ WRITING: An overview of my work this month. I figured it would make more sense to keep it all in a monthly update, rather than having bits all over the place.

☆ WATCHING: iZOMBIE. It's a murder mystery show - with zombies! I was dubious at first because pretty much all the comic book based TV shows I've ever seen have sucked, but I'm actually really enjoying this one.

☆ LISTENING: This week's #FridayFrivolity theme was superheroes. I decided to write about my favourite sidekick, Jimmy Olsen, who just happens to be the subject of one of my favourite songs by the Spin Doctors:


☆ WEARING: Oversized cardigans. Part style statement, part blanket you can wear...

☆ EATING: Babybel. I bought some for Marianna when I went food shopping but she didn't like them. Obviously I just had to eat them myself instead... ;)

☆ REVIEWING: The Tangle Teezer brush.


I've changed the blog commenting system from Blogger default to Disqus. Verdict's still out on whether or not it's staying, but I'm liking it so far. In other news, I put together a list of linkies to join up with on Wednesdays, and wrote a post on the Rowlands branch of my family tree.








For more like this, please click the image below:

It's been all about work this week. I've had planning, joint scrutiny, police and crime panel, school governors, deputy mayor engagements and more. Marianna had her first session of 'Talking Tots', a playgroup intervention for children who are behind with their speech. Personally I don't think there is any worry at all with her speech development, but the health visitor thought differently so Anthony had to take her to the group on Thursday morning. Apparently she was the only kid who turned up so just played at the water table with a bunch of adults. ...Kind of like her normal life then!

I didn't do much else this week, though on Saturday we went to Anthony's parents for a little farewell dinner for Nat, who is off to study drama at Birmingham Met. :)




☆ READING: I popped in the charity shop on Friday to get Marianna some new (well, new to her) books, as they're three for a pound in Shaw Trust. I got her a great one all about sharks.

☆ WRITING: Murder on my Doorstep. Growing up I always dismissed the stories people told about a house on the street as made up, but it turns out that a murder really was committed there, back in 1948...

☆ WATCHING: Happy Valley, courtesy of Netflix. I've only seen the first series so far but it was really good - I stayed up way too late to see the end of it!

☆ LISTENING: I can't get the Chives song from The Herbs out of my head, thanks to Marianna's latest TV obsession:


☆ WEARING: The deputy mayoral chain... I went to the Torfaen Business Expo on Friday, you can read my write up on it over here.

☆ EATING: We had a Chinese takeaway at Kay and Shawn's on Saturday which was very nice!

☆ REVIEWING: Some of my weird dreams...


I put together a list of editorial calendar ideas for September, wrote about Autumn for this week's #FridayFrivolity linky, and launched a new competition in collaboration with Warner Bros:

RT to #Win an awesome bundle of WB #IconicMoments movies w/ @jess__powell! https://t.co/Appo0kJZuS (UK only-E:24/09) pic.twitter.com/HQDnygaWSA

— Jessica Powell (@jess__powell) September 14, 2016

For more like this, please click the image below:

Throughout the year there are so many awareness days, commemorative days, special days, celebrations, holidays, observances, etc, etc. These can be great as blog post inspiration, or just for getting a bit of extra traffic to an existing post by repromoting it as a tie-in.

Read on for a list of notable dates for September - if the day has its own website or wiki page, I've linked to it. A lot of the weirder ones are USA based unofficial 'national days'; I've included them in the list if they've crossed the pond, or had a fair number of media hits when I googled them.

I've also included links to any posts I've written for a particular day.

1st

☆ Constitution Day. [Slovakia]
☆ Disaster Prevention Day. [Japan]
☆ Independence Day. [Uzbekistan]
☆ Random Acts of Kindness Day.


2nd

☆ Independence Day. [Transnistria]
☆ National Day. [Vietnam]
☆ Victory over Japan Day. [USA]


3rd

☆ Flag Day. [Australia]
☆ Merchant Navy Day. [UK]
☆ Victory over Japan Day. [China]

4th

☆ Newspaper Carrier Day.


5th

☆ International Day of Charity.
☆ Teachers' Day. [India]


6th

☆ Defence Day. [Pakistan]
☆ Independence Day. [Swaziland]
☆ Unification Day. [Bulgaria]


7th

☆ Air Force Day. [Pakistan]
☆ Cassette Store Day.
☆ Independence Day. [Brazil]
☆ Victory Day. [Mozambique]


8th

☆ Independence Day. [Republic of Macedonia]
☆ International Literacy Day.
☆ Martyrs' Day. [Afghanistan]
☆ Monti Fest.
☆ Nativity of Mary.
☆ Navy Day. [Pakistan]
☆ Our Lady of Meritxell. [Andorra]
☆ Victory Day. [Malta]
☆ World Physical Therapy Day.


9th

☆ California Admission Day. [California, USA]
☆ Children's Day. [Costa Rica]
☆ Independence Day. [Tajikistan]
☆ Independence Day. [Tanzania]
☆ Memorial Day for Victims of the Holocaust and Racial Violence. [Slovakia]


10th

☆ Children's Day. [Honduras]
☆ National Blood Donation Day. [USA]
☆ National Day. [Gibralter]
☆ St. George's Caye Day. [Belize]
☆ Teachers' Day. [China]
☆ World Suicide Prevention Day.


11th

☆ Enkutatash. [Ethiopia]
☆ National Day of Catalonia.
☆ Nayrouz.
☆ Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance. [USA]


12th

☆ Day of Conception. [Russia]
☆ Defenders' Day. [Maryland, USA]
☆ Mindfulness Day.
☆ National Day. [Cape Verde]
☆ National Day of Encouragement. [USA]
☆ Saragarhi Day. [India & Sikhs worldwide]
☆ The Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary.


13th

☆ Engineers' Day. [Mauritius]
☆ International Chocolate Day.


14th

☆ Children's Day. [Nepal]
☆ Elevation of the Holy Cross.
☆ Engineers' Day. [Romania]
☆ Hindi Divas.
☆ Lord of Miracles of Buga.


15th

☆ Day of Knowledge. [Azerbaijan]
☆ Engineers' Day. [India]
☆ Free Money Day.
☆ Independence Day. [Costa Rica]
☆ Independence Day. [El Salvador]
☆ Independence Day. [Guatemala]
☆ Independence Day. [Nicaragua]
☆ International Day of Democracy.
☆ Our Lady of Sorrows.
☆ World Lymphoma Awareness Day.


16th

☆ Independence Day. [Mexico]
☆ Independence Day. [Papua New Guinea]
☆ International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.
☆ Malaysia Day.
☆ Martyrs' Day. [Libya]
☆ National Heroes' Day. [Saint Kitts and Nevis]


17th

☆ Australian Citizenship Day.
☆ Marathwada Liberation Day.
☆ National Heroes' Day. [Angola]
☆ Teachers' Day. [Honduras]


18th

☆ Fiestas Patrias. [Chile]
☆ Island Languages Day. [Okinawa, Japan]
☆ National Music Day. [Azerbaijan]
☆ Navy Day. [Croatia]
☆ World Water Monitoring Day.


19th

☆ Armed Forces Day. [Chile]
☆ Day of the First Public Appearance of the Slovak National Council. [Slovakia]
☆ Feast of San Genarro.
☆ Independence Day. [Saint Kitts and Nevis]
☆ International Talk Like a Pirate Day.


20th

☆ Children's Day. [Germany]
☆ Oil Workers' Day. [Azerbaijan]
☆ Weltkindertag. [World Children's Day - Germany]
☆ Youth Day. [Thailand]


21st

☆ Abor Day. [Brazil]
☆ Founders' Day. [Ghana]
☆ Independence Day. [Belize]
☆ Independence Day. [Malta]
☆ International Day of Peace.
☆ National Day. [Armenia]
☆ National Volunteer Day. [Ghana]


22nd

☆ American Business Women's Day.
☆ Hobbit Day.
☆ Independence Day. [Bulgaria]
☆ Independence Day. [Mali]
☆ OneWebDay.
☆ Teachers' Day. [Uruguay]
☆ World Car Free Day.


23rd

☆ Atumnal Equinox.
☆ Celebrate Bisexuality Day.
☆ National Day. [Saudi Arabia]
☆ Teachers' Day. [Brunei]


24th

☆ Heritage Day. [South Africa]
☆ Independence Day. [Guinea Bissau]
☆ National Punctuation Day. [USA]


25th

☆ Children's Day. [Netherlands]
☆ Revolution Day. [Mozambique]


26th

☆ Dominion Day. [New Zealand]
☆ Mesothelioma (aggressive cancer caused by exposure to asbestos) Awareness Day.
☆ European Day of Languages.



27th

☆ French Community Holiday.
☆ World Tourism Day.


28th

☆ Freedom from Hunger Day.
☆ International Right to Know Day.  ☆ See You at the Pole. [USA, possibly other countries where schools have flagpoles...]
☆ St. Wenceslas Day. [Czech Statehood Day]
☆ Teachers' Day. [Taiwan]
☆ World Rabies Day.


29th

☆ Inventors' Day. [Argentina]
☆ Michaelmas.
☆ Victory of Boquerón Day.  [Paraguay]
☆ World Heart Day.


30th

☆ Blasphemy Day.
☆ Independence Day. [Botswana]
☆ International Translation Day.
☆ Liberation Day. [Abkhazia]
☆ Recovery Day. [Canada]


31st

☆ 


Movable

☆ Labor Day. [First Monday]
☆ Oktoberfest. [Third Saturday]


Weeks / Months

☆ Amerindian Heritage Month. [Guyana]
☆ National Bourbon Heritage Month. [USA]
☆ National Hispanic Heritage Month. [USA]
☆ National Honey Month. [USA]
☆ National Preparedness Month. [USA]
☆ National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. [USA]
☆ National Yoga Month. [USA]
☆ Pain Awareness Month. [USA]

☆ Sacred Defence Week. [Iran]